If you love Christchurch, enrol to vote so you can have a say on the people elected in our local body election.

If you are enrolled on the electoral roll, you are eligible to vote in central government and council elections. 

Enrol, check or update your details at any time at vote.nz(external link). 

The Electoral Commission(external link) has a lot of useful, accessible resources in different formats.

The Akaroa Community Board by-election for the Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board will be held on 12 June 2026. The electoral roll for the by-election opens on Thursday 5 March 2026 and closes at 4pm on Thursday 2 April 2026. 

A preliminary roll for the by-election can be inspected during normal operating hours at the following locations from Thursday 5 March 2026 to Thursday 2 April 2026:

•    Te Hononga Christchurch City Council Civic Offices, 53 Hereford Street, Christchurch
•    Akaroa Customer Service Hub, 78 Rue Lavaud, Akaroa
•    Akaroa Library, 2 Selwyn Avenue, Akaroa

Māori roll or general roll?

If you’re of New Zealand Māori descent, you can choose to enrol on the Māori roll or the general roll.

If you would like to change your roll type in time for the local elections, you need to do so by midnight, Thursday 10 July. You can’t change rolls in the three months before the local elections.

You can change your roll by completing and returning the form in your enrolment update pack. You can also change your roll online at vote.nz(external link) or by completing and returning a printed enrolment form.

There are two types of electors

If you are registered to vote in parliamentary elections, you will be automatically enrolled on the local body residential electoral roll as a residential elector at the address where you live.

Find out which ward you are in.

You will receive a voting document so that you can vote by post.

Any changes to the residential roll, such as your address, should be made by:

If you are on the electoral roll in one area and pay rates on a property in another area, you may be eligible for enrolment on the non-resident ratepayer roll. This allows you to vote more than once in the local elections.

You may be eligible as a non-resident ratepayer elector in Christchurch City Council if both of these apply:

  • You are on the district valuation roll and pay rates in the Christchurch City Council district.
  • The address where you are registered on the residential roll is outside of the Christchurch city ward or community board area.

Your eligibility to enrol or be nominated may also depend on your individual circumstances as determined by criteria in the Local Electoral Act 2001 and its regulations.

A Council district includes a city, district and regional council area, and a community board area.

An organisation can nominate one of its members or officers to vote on its behalf

If a firm, company, trust, corporation, society partners, joint tenants, and tenants in common collectively pay rates on a property in a council district, one of the group may be nominated to be the ratepayer elector.

The person nominating and the nominated person must be registered as a residential elector outside the council district where the property is located.

You can only enrol once 

You can only enrol or be nominated to enrol as a ratepayer elector once in a council district, no matter how many properties you own in that council district. A council district includes a city, district and regional council area, and a community board area.

New ratepayer electors

If you have questions about whether you may be eligible to enrol or to nominate someone as a ratepayer elector, please contact the electoral team at elections@ccc.govt.nz  or on 03 941 8581.

You can check your eligibility and complete an online enrolment form at Electionz.com(external link).

Download the enrolment form [PDF, 163 KB] to print and send or email back.